Applying Design Thinking for Effective Problem Solving
“Design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology and the requirement of business success.”
-Tim Brown (IDEO)
Design Thinking is known to be one of the best tools used around industries for problem-solving as it combines a problem-solving mindset with the roots of design and having deep empathy for users. Like problem-solving, design is also a natural and habitual human activity. Needs and discontent with the existing ways of life together with the determination to arise with a solution to the problem is the start of a design process.
Problem-Oriented Thinking vs Solution-Based Thinking
What makes Design thinking unique is that it uses the question ‘HOW’ rather than the ‘WHAT’ & ‘WHY’, which usually arise from problem-oriented thinking which in turn is related to critical thinking. The question ‘HOW’ is a solution-based approach that results in creative outcomes that are desirable for the users, workable for the stakeholders and feasible within technological and design constraints. Design thinking provides the right framework and enablement for any kind of problem.
The Concept of Wicked Problems
The everyday problems we face today come in various shapes and sizes and are only growing more complex and challenging with time. These problems that usually seem impossible to solve as they are sometimes interdependent on many external factors and are difficult to define are known as Wicked Problems.
Solving these wicked problems would require an in-depth understanding of the stakeholders and a creative re-definition of the problem, which can be solved through the innovative approach provided by design thinking. In other words “Design thinking’s iterative process is extremely useful in tackling ill-defined or unknown problems — reframing the problem in human-centric ways, creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing.” ( — Interaction Design Foundation)
It is also well-understood that there is more than one right solution and design thinking’s five-step methodology provides a designers attitude for problem-solving which brings out alternatives. The design mindset lets you see problems as opportunities for inventions and new possibilities. The basis of design thinking is to question the basic assumptions and understand the said and unsaid wants and needs of the stakeholders.
Design Thinking in Business
The Design thinking approach loops in everyone from the organisation into the problem-solving process; this can help companies and industries solve wicked problems through a clear eye. Better human-centred user experiences and disruptive products can be confidently created through shared vocabulary and the design thinking toolset by the business leaders. The design thinking process is an iterative system that instils the idea of user-centric solutions and guides the team towards the right outcomes.
The Design Thinking Process
Empathy: Empathising with the users can add an interesting perspective on your users’ lives and the challenges they face. Having this information lets you solve difficult and worthwhile problems. Empathy connects the problem solvers with the solution users empowering them before solutions are created through products or services that ultimately meet the real needs.
Define: The change of perspective of a problem can inspire an entire movement and provide various viable solutions. This change of perspective or in other words, the creative re-defining of the problem can lead to the creation of innovative design solutions to challenging problems and create new disruptive business models. By summarising the findings from the users, a new problem statement can be written that opens up space for new and innovative ideas to difficult problems.
Ideate: As mentioned earlier there are various alternative solutions to a particular problem, but only a few of those solutions can meet the stakeholder’s needs. To reach those useful solutions we must explore every possible solution through the Ideation phase of design thinking. The Ideation phase lets you collect different perspectives of the same problem statement through different stakeholders which can provide powerful solutions and critiques.
Prototype and Test: Prototyping and testing your product/service can help you understand your users and answer critical questions about the solutions. This step helps identify the shortcomings of the solution and the best user experience for better development of the ideas without wasting resources such as time and money. The testing phase can also help us get out of our solution/design-focused heads and see how our products and solutions are being received in the market.
To conclude…
Design thinking is a creative exploratory approach to problem-solving. Using the various design thinking tools and getting into designers mindsets for problem-solving, we can not only understand problems better but can also explore them from a different perspective and identify opportunities and provide user-specific solutions.
